


Always Too Young

by butterflyslinky



Category: Atop the Fourth Wall
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-04-24
Packaged: 2018-01-20 15:33:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1515695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butterflyslinky/pseuds/butterflyslinky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Harvey and Charlie Finevoice, angst, death. Charlie dies in his father's arms.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always Too Young

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the TGWTG Kink Meme.

Eighteen.

Awkward time, really. Too old for a father’s advice, too young to do without. Too cocky to be careful, too inexperienced to be reckless. Too immature for serious relationships, too hormonal and lonely to not pursue them.

Too old to avoid danger. Too young to die.

Eighteen.

Oh, god, too young to die.

If Harvey thought about it too long, he would acknowledge that there was no one to blame but himself. After all, eighteen was too young to know better, and since Charlie had decided to drop out of school and strike out on his own, how was he supposed to stay out of trouble?

It started with a phone call to the club.

“Dad?”

“Charlie? That you?”

“Yeah.”

“This had better be an emergency, Kid.”

“It is.” The sound of a gunshot. “Shit!”

“Where are you? What’s going on?”

“I’m at a payphone…” It sounded like Charlie was trying not to cry. “I saw… I just saw something I shouldn’t have. Just witnessed… Von Minden… I need to hide. Do you think I could stay with you for a few days?”

“Kid, whatever you saw doesn’t sound like it will go away in a few days and home’s the first place they’re gonna look.” Harvey waved the manager over. “Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you. We’ll reconvene somewhere safe with your mother and make a plan.”

“Okay… I’m at the phone booth on the corner of Fourth and Main.”

Harvey didn’t bother to ask why Charlie was so far away from where he’d been living. Ever since Charlie had made it clear he wanted to be on his own, Harvey had largely lost track of his son’s activities. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He hung up and turned to the manager. “Sorry, Joe, but I have to duck out. Family emergency.”

“No problem. I think there’s some upstart backstage who’d like to be a headliner.”

“Great. I may be gone for a while, so make sure he’s good.” With that, Harvey grabbed his coat and dashed out the door.

*

Eighteen.

Uncertain time, really. Not sure if the people who ran the world had all the answers or none of them. Not sure if what your parents said was the absolute truth or pure bullshit. Not sure if you were really smart or really stupid.

Not sure of anything except the painfully obvious.

Eighteen.

The only thing Charlie was certain of was that he was in trouble, and if his dad couldn’t get him out of it, he was going to die.

Charlie knew it was his own fault. He should never have left home, should never have gotten involved with Gillette, should have never agreed to spy on a rival gang, especially not such a violent one. Should have listened when his father told him to stay away from that life and those people. Should not have been close enough to see a man murdered.

Should not have been seen as he tried to run away.

They hadn’t caught up with him yet. Once on the street it was easy to get lost in the crowd and find a place to call for help. And whatever his father told him about the problem not going away, Charlie knew his dad could get him out of any situation. He’d heard the stories about his father’s former activities. He knew his dad was one of the toughest guys on the planet.

He didn’t leave the phone booth. He was in an area he didn’t know very well, having run as far away from Von Minden as he could without checking to see where he was going, and he had already heard six gunshots.

It was awful, waiting fro his dad to rescue him and trying to hold himself together. But having a breakdown now wouldn’t help, even though Charlie could still see them in his head. Von Minden and all of her men. One poor sap in the middle of the room. The gun coming out as the man had stuttered out some explanation about a botched job somewhere.

There had been no warning. Halfway through the apology, Von Minden had pulled the trigger and Charlie, watching from outside a window, had screamed involuntarily.

Charlie shuddered. He hadn’t expected it to end up any other way, but the coldness, the silence, Von Minden’s eyes when she had spotted him…

Thankfully, his dad pulled up before that train of thought could go too far. Charlie jumped in the car immediately. He knew he was safe now.

*

Harvey didn’t speak until they had driven for several minutes, but once they were well away from that neighborhood, he looked at Charlie. “Okay, Kid, I’m taking you to a safe place and then getting your mom. But you need to tell me everything that’s happened.”

That was when Charlie fell apart. He realized that he had been stupid, that he was just a little boy running to his daddy to protect him, unable to take care of himself. A coward who needed someone to hide behind.

Harvey’s face softened a bit. “Come on, Kid. It’ll be okay. Just tell me what’s going on.”

Charlie knew that it wouldn’t be okay, that it could never be okay, but he told his story.

When Charlie was done, Harvey was silent. He knew that he couldn’t fix this situation and that the terrified boy beside him would never get over what he had seen.

“Gillette’s not gonna like this,” Harvey finally said. “But I think I can handle him.”

“Dad—”

“I know. But I’m not gonna try to square this with Von Minden. She never listens to anyone and she’s never liked me anyway. But if I can get Gillette off of you, it’s one less person to worry about.” He glanced out the window as they stopped. “Okay, Kid. I called a friend of mine and I’m gonna leave you with him while I get your mom safe and try to sort this out. Just stay inside and don’t get in trouble.”

“Okay.” Charlie got out of the car and hurried to the door. Harvey watched him go before driving off.

*

Maria was quite understandably unhappy when Harvey told her what was going on, even more when she learned that he had left Charlie with a friend she didn’t trust. “Mausser’s one of the shadiest rats I’ve ever met. How could you just leave Charlie there?”

“He may be a rat, but he’s one of my rats. And it’s only for a few hours, one night at the most. I’ll see if I can take care of this, and if I can’t, we’ll all be skipping town soon.”

Maria glared at him. “You promised that we were done running. When Charlie was born, you swore that you’d clean up and live a quiet life. You promised, Harvey.”

“I know I did,” Harvey answered. “But he didn’t.”

She couldn’t argue with that, so she grabbed her coat and purse and followed her husband. “Are you taking me to Mausser, too?”

“No. I’m taking you to the club so you can head off anyone who looks for Charlie there. Still got a pistol in that handbag?”

“You know it.”

“Good. I’ll come get you when I have more information.”

*

It was past midnight by the time Harvey got Maria settled and headed out to settle things with Gillette, but he knew that he’d be able to see the boss. None of these people ever slept until well into the morning, as Harvey well knew even though he had left that life behind.

It should have been nerve-wracking to knock on the door of one of the most dangerous men in the city, but Harvey was only thinking of Charlie, so he pounded on the door.

It opened after a moment. “What do you want?” a voice growled.

“I have to see Gillette. Now.”

The door swung open. “Mr. Finevoice. This is unexpected. Thought you’d given us up.”

“I have. But this is important, so take me in.”

The lackey (whose name Harvey couldn’t remember) led him down a hall to a low-lit office. The lackey knocked and entered. “Finevoice wants to see you.”

“Developments?”

“Old Finevoice.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Send him in.”

The door opened and Harvey was waved inside. “Mr. Finevoice,” Gillette said smoothly. “What a surprise. And what brings you back here after so many years?”

“What do you think?” Harvey snapped. “I’m here to tell you to leave my kid alone.”

“Leave him alone?” Gillette repeated. “Certainly I’ll leave him alone, as long as he does his work and stays out of trouble. And doesn’t chicken out like you did.”

Harvey bristled. “Leave that out of this,” he snapped. “Point is, he ain’t working for you anymore. I’ve got a good, long booking in Los Angeles and Charlie’s coming with me. So I’m telling you now to let him go and keep your dogs off of him. Understood?”

Gillette smirked. “L.A? Really, Harvey?” He lit a cigarette. “My understanding was that you were booked here for another six months. And I got the impression that Charlie was no longer under your roof.”

“Plans change. L.A. offered more money and I need someone to carry equipment. Called my kid to do it cause I thought it’d be good for him to get out and see the world. So we’re headed out there and you can leave Charlie out of your war. Deal?”

“Deal,” Gillette said with a smirk. “As long as you’re out of here in the next twenty-four hours. Charlie knows too much and if anything were to slip…”

“It won’t,” Harvey snapped, and then he turned and left without another word.

*

He got back to Mausser’s by two. He had briefly debated going home, but had decided that Charlie needed him more. He turned the car off and waited several minutes to make sure he hadn’t been followed before he darted across the street and knocked on the door. It opened almost immediately. “Finevoice?”

“Mausser.” The door swung wider. “All good?”

“So far. Celeste’s put him up and he hasn’t come down since. No sign of any trouble.”

“Good. Got room for me?”

“Maybe. Did you bring Maria?”

Harvey shook his head. “Left her at the club. I’d join her, but…”

Mausser nodded. “I get it. You may just have to stay with him, but that will probably be just as well.”

Harvey nodded. “Thank you.”

“Any time. Come on, he may be asleep but we can try not to wake him.”

“I doubt he is. He’s been through a lot.”

Indeed, when Mausser knocked, Charlie opened the door immediately, looking just as exhausted and terrified as he had when Harvey left. It made Harvey’s heart clench to see his kid look so scared, but he put on a brave face. “It’s okay, Kid, it’s just me. I’m gonna stay with you tonight and we’ll leave as soon as I’m sure it’s safe.”

Charlie nodded and let Harvey in, closing the door behind him. “Did you get to Gillette?” the boy asked hoarsely.

“Yeah. Told him I got a job in L.A. and you’re coming with me so he can leave us alone. He to me to clear out in twenty-four hours, which is probably the best we can hope for.”

“We’re not actually going to L.A., are we?”

“Course not. But that’s not important. Right now, we need to sleep so we can get an early start.”

Charlie shook his head. “I can’t. I’m afraid… every time I close my eyes, I see them… and she’ll find me, no matter where I go… she’ll never stop…”

Charlie started crying then, even though Harvey knew he wanted to hold it back. In two strides, Harvey had crossed the room and hugged his son, letting the boy sob into his shoulder. “It’s okay, Kid,” Harvey whispered. “I know it’s hard. It’s always hard, but… it gets better and I’m gonna keep you safe.”

“I know,” Charlie muttered. “I know you will. You always will.”

*

Neither one of them slept very well, but they each got a few hours before Harvey declared that it was time to go. “We’re not taking anything with us,” he said. “The house is probably being watched and we don’t have very much time.”

Charlie nodded. “Let’s just get out of here,” he said.

Moving in daylight was a bit dangerous, but better than at night. At least in daylight there were more police around, more people on the street. They hurried across the street to the car and head toward Harvey’s club. Harvey only hoped Maria hadn’t had any trouble.

When they arrived, Harvey parked a few doors down and looked at Charlie for a moment. “I guess it’s better if you follow me in,” he said. “A car window’s not gonna protect you, but a potential witness could.”

Charlie nodded and they got out of the car. Keeping their heads down, they hurried toward the club.

They had just passed the first door when the shot split the air.

Harvey shouted, turning just as Charlie fell to the ground, his shirt turning red. “No!” Harvey fell to his knees beside his son, pulling the boy into his arms. “No! Kid…”

Charlie tried to speak, but only managed a slight gasp.

“Come on, Kid, stay with me, it’s gonna be okay, you’re gonna be safe…” Harvey looked around wildly at the growing crowd. “Someone call 9-1-1!” he shouted just as several cell phones appeared. “Come on, Kid…”

“Dad,” Charlie whispered. “Dad… I’m sorry.” His eyes fluttered shut and his breathing stopped…

“No!” Harvey screamed just as there was a slight commotion behind him as Maria pushed through the crowd. She stood for a moment and then screamed, just a wordless wail of absolute misery as she collapsed beside them. “Charlie…”

*

That was the end of it all. There were no witnesses on the street that could positively identify the shooter and the evidence wasn’t enough to find them. The police said they were sorry, but there was nothing they could do except leave the file open and hope something turned up.

Maria left a few weeks later. “You couldn’t keep him safe,” she said to Harvey. “If you had taken him away when he first called…”

If he had taken him away. If he had left him with Mausser. If he had made him finish school. If he wasn’t such a bad influence…

It didn’t matter. It was too late. Charlie was gone and Maria had gotten on the bus to Santa Fe. She sent the divorce papers a few months later and never spoke to Harvey again.

And Harvey had nothing left.

Eighteen.

Too old to be sheltered from the world. Too young to feel its horrors.

But then again, every age was too young.


End file.
